12 Fake Photos That Went Viral

From exotic-coloured watermelon to a cheerleader’s unfortunate accident, we count twelve fake photos that went viral!

12 – Hercules, the Giant Dog,

Dogs may come in all different shapes and sizes – but so do lies on the internet. If come across a photo of a dog that looks way larger than it should you can usually assume the image has been tampered with.

Take these photos of the monstrously large Neapolitan mastiff, Hercules, who is supposedly as big as a horse! According to internet rumours this dog is so enormous that the Guinness World Records officially recognised him as the largest dog in the world.

You can tell this dog is fake because its owners are smiling. If it was real they’d be broke and miserable from having to buy ninety pounds of dog food each day.

11 – Moon Melon,

Most people would agree that the thought of eating green eggs and ham is pretty gross, but what about blue watermelon? Known as ‘moon melon’, this expensive delicacy hails from the land of everything weird: Japan!

Moon melons sell for a whopping 16,000 yen – or roughly $200 – each! Apart from their amazing colour moon melons have another interesting feature: their taste can shift from sour to salty to sweet.

Sounds interesting, right? There’s just one problem: they’re completely fake! Yep, this Photoshop trickery was widely shared across Twitter in 2014. Guess you’ll just have to settle for Japan’s equally weird square watermelons! What the hell’s up with those…

10 – Shark Attacks Helicopter,

Ah, the early 2000s… A time when people would believe anything their eyes showed them. This viral image of a shark attacking a military helicopter is so old school it had to be circulated via email! You can imagine people’s anticipation as their dial-up connection slowly loaded the attachment. “No… way… It’s a shark attacking… a helicopter!”

Yep, apparently thousands believed this simple Photoshop composition exercise was National Geographic’s photo of the year. Personally I think a tiger doing a backflip would’ve been more plausible but, y’know, there are some trusting people out there.

While I have you hear, here’s a quick PSA: you know that hyper-realistic Sharnado movie? It’s not a documentary.

9 – Rainbow Owl,

Every so often we see photos of animals sporting exotic colours that are totally unlike the rest of their species. Well, someone on the internet decided to have fun with this phenomenon and created a completely new species of owl known as the Rainbow Owl.

According to its creator, this rare wonder lives in the forests of China and the United States.

In reality it lives in your imagination. This completely ridiculous image is just a heavily photoshopped regular barred owl. Sorry, kids. The tooth fairy isn’t real.

8 – Computer-Addicted Kids,

In 2012 the Philippines was hit with terrible flooding that killed almost a hundred people and caused widespread disease.

Photos of the devastation spread all around the world, but one shocking image went viral. It showed a roomful of kids using computers while waist-deep in water. It was almost like the kids didn’t notice the terrible flood water around them… Like it wasn’t even there…

Fortunately several keen internet detectives pointed that the reflections in the water don’t match up the way they’re supposed to.

7 – Shark Escape,

Sharks are one of the most terrifying creatures around and the internet is making sure everyone knows it.

If these photos are to be believed the sharks have begun their uprising. They’ve clearly had enough of humans swimming in their territory and are bringing the fight to us.

The story goes that these sharks broke free of their enclosure during a severe flood. They can be seen swimming in circles around the bottom of a Kuwait But actually this photo never happened. It’s a photoshopped image of Toronto’s Union Station.